Dick Blume/The Post-Standard STUDENTS AT East Hill Elementary School in the West Genesee Central School Dis´trict participate in a fitness program in January.

By Rick Timbs
Statewide School Finance Consortium

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently wrote, “In the debate over the state budget, it is important to focus on the facts instead of overheated rhetoric.”

Let’s do that.

Cuomo may be correctly stating averages, but not all school districts are average. Upstate districts are way below average in income and property wealth, taxing capacity, course offerings and educational opportunities. They also have the highest rates of poverty, largest distances to transport students and diminished local resources due to major losses of business, industry and population.

What’s true “on average” is not true for places like the West Genesee Central School District, which despite a voluntary salary freeze by employees, faces the elimination of more than 50 positions, including three administrators, 21 teaching staff, 29 clerical staff, teacher aides and teacher assistants, to help close a budget gap for 2011-12.

Programs will also be cut, including the seventh-grade reading program, third-grade strings program, fourth-grade band and one year of middle school art. This story will be replicated in school districts across Upstate New York.

The governor claimed: “While I have asked state agencies to cut their budgets by 10 percent, I have only sought an average 2.9 percent reduction in overall school spending.”

Here is the reality: The governor’s budget would reduce state aid by 7.3 percent, not 2.9 percent, after taking into account the loss of $1.34 billion in one-time federal funding and the growth in expense-based aids of $305 million.

The governor claimed: “School districts have $1.5 billion in reserves and unspent federal funds that will allow many to absorb the proposed $1.5 billion cuts without service reduction.”

Here is the reality: Over 150 school districts have reserves insufficient to cover their state aid cuts. Some have virtually no reserves at all. Prudent financial management requires districts to maintain sufficient reserves for emergencies.

Even those districts that do have reserves exceeding this year’s state aid cut would be ill advised to use all their reserves this year. Costs beyond the districts’ control, such as for pensions, fuel and health insurance will continue to escalate. With a tax cap in place next year, districts will face another round of deep cuts that reserves could help mitigate.

The governor claimed: “By coming together and acknowledging that fixing our schools means placing the interests of our students ahead of special interests, we can make New York’s schools the envy of the rest of the nation.”

Here is the reality: If the governor is serious about “placing the interests of our students ahead of special interests,” why didn’t he propose cutting school aid in a manner that would be truly fair to all students? Instead, he proposed to cut aid of $2.8 billion; hardest hit are many of the state’s poorest school districts that are already underserved.

The governor claimed: “Freezing wages, as I have proposed to do for state workers, would save school districts $1.1 billion.”

Here is the reality: School districts do not have the authority to freeze wages.

Our Statewide School Finance Consortium has called upon the governor and Legislature to enact a statewide freeze on all school employees’ wages. A state law referred to as the “Triborough Amendment” denies school districts the authority to enact a wage freeze even when a contract expires. The governor has ignored our calls to impose a freeze and has put forth no proposal to repeal or modify Triborough.

The governor claimed: “Having school district employees make the same health care contributions that state employees make would result in $500 million to $600 million in savings.”

Here is the reality: Triborough prevents school districts from unilaterally imposing such changes; they can only occur with the consent of the employees.
The Statewide School Finance Consortium has called on the governor and Legislature to cap the amount a school district may spend on health insurance, which would force employees to pay more.

The governor has ignored those calls.

Rick Timbs is executive director of Statewide School Finance Consortium. The website is www.statewideonline.org/.